The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently released summary data for enforcement activity during fiscal year 2021 to show the steps taken to enforce overall compliance with its policies.

The data, made available on Jan. 7, details enforcement efforts by APHIS’ Investigative and Enforcement Services in the sectors of biotechnology, agricultural quarantine inspection, animal and plant health, animal welfare and horse protection, an APHIS press release said.  

During fiscal year 2021, APHIS “opened 1,253 new cases; issued 466 warning letters; entered into 491 pre-litigation settlement agreements resulting in the collection of $883,525 in stipulated penalties; and obtained, through Office of the General Counsel action, Administrative Orders assessing $48,100 in civil penalties,” the report said. 

The new cases include 700 “referrals in support of agricultural quarantine inspection activities and were handled as part of the expedited resolution program,” the report said. “The remaining 575 investigations involved referrals from each of the four APHIS programs and Customs and Border Protection.” Passenger baggage and regulated garbage cases comprised 700 of the new cases.

The data is compiled annually to show stakeholders the measures APHIS has taken to enforce compliance with rules that protect the country’s agriculture industry, the release said.

“The FY 2021 enforcement summary data is available at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/business-services/ies,” the release said.